Events in Music
Music Premiere
1724 Johann Sebastian Bach‘s “St John Passion” premieres in Leipzig
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Album Release
1981 “Street Songs” 5th studio album by Rick James is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1981)
Rick James
- 1991 “Big Love” closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 41 performances
- 1991 “Shadowlands” closes at Brooks Atkinson Theater NYC after 169 performances
- 1994 “Medea” opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 82 performances
- 1994 Singer Percy Sledge pleads guilty to tax evasion
- 1996 Pakistan beat Sri Lanka to win Singer Cup in Singapore
- 2003 37th CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards: Toby Keith & Martina McBride win
Hall of Fame
2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Baez, Yes, Tupac Shakur, Journey, and Pearl Jam
Tupac Shakur
Birthdays in Music
- 1694 Coelestin Praelisauer, composer
- 1699 Andreas Benedikt Praelisauer, composer
- 1727 Henri Hardouin, French composer, born in Grandpré (d. 1808)
- 1745 Georg Druschetzky, composer
- 1748 Georg Wenzel Ritter, composer
- 1763 Domenico Dragonetti, composer
- 1768 Karl Theodor Toeschi, composer
- 1819 Hubert Leonard, composer
- 1826 Johann Hermann Berens, composer
- 1851 Otto Adolf Klauwell, composer
- 1870 Joseph Ryeland, Belgian composer/Baron
- 1893 Irene Castle, dancer (leader in anti-vivisection movement)
- 1895 Eduardo Toldra, composer
- 1897 Harald Sigurd Johan Saeverud, composer [OS]
- 1899 Robert Casadesus, French pianist (d. 1972)
- 1908 Percy Faith, conductor (Summer Place)
Billie Holiday
1915 Billie Holiday, [Eleanora Fagan], jazz singer (Lady Sings the Blues), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Billie Holiday
Ravi Shankar
1920 Ravi Shankar, Indian musician (The Pandit), born in Varanasi, India (d. 2012)
Ravi Shankar
- 1922 Kenneth Howard Peacock, composer
- 1922 Mongo Santamaria, Cuban musician (d. 2003)
- 1924 Ikuma Dan, Japanese composer (Yūzuru), born in Toyko (d. 2001)
- 1924 Nick Perito, orchestra leader (Don Knotts Show, Big Show), born in Denver, Colorado
- 1927 Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian drummer (d. 2003)
- 1932 Louis “Mr Bo” Collins, blues SInger
- 1934 Victor Feldman, British jazz pianist and drummer, born in London (d. 1987)
- 1935 Bobby Bare, Irontown Oh, country singer (Detroit City)
- 1937 Charlie Thomas, singer (Drifters), born in Lynchburg, Virginia
- 1938 Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpeter (Art Blakey), born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- 1940 Jan Wilhelm Morthenson, composer
- 1940 Patricia Paay, Dutch singer (You are not hip)
- 1943 Mick Abrahams, Luton, rock guitarist (Jethro Tull, Blodwyn Pig)
- 1943 Roberta Shore, Monterrey Park, California, actress/singer (Virginian)
- 1943 Spencer Dryden, rock drummer (Jefferson Airplane-Go Ask Alice), born in NYC, New York
- 1944 Carol Grimes, British singer (Delivery), born in London, England
- 1945 Megas, Icelandic singer, songwriter and writer
- 1946 Barbara Benary, composer
- 1947 Patricia Bennett, US singer (He’s So Fine)
- 1947 Florian Schneider, German musician (Kraftwerk)
- 1947 Charles ‘skip’ Pitts, soul and blues guitarist (Shaft), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2012)
- 1948 Carol Douglas, American singer
- 1949 John Oates, American rock guitarist/vocalist (Hall & Oates-Rich Girl), born in NYC, New York
- 1951 Janis Ian [Janis Eddy Fink], American singer-songwriter and folk musician (At Seventeen, Society’s Child), born in NYC, New York
- 1951 John Dittrich, Union NJ, country singer (Restless Heart-Wheels)
- 1952 Bruce Gary, rock drummer (Knack-My Sharona), born in Burbank, California
- 1957 Simon Climie, English singer-songwriter and producer (Climie Fisher – Love Changes), born in London
- 1958 Tony Aire, rocker (Adventures-Sea of Love)
- 1962 Alain Robert, French rock and urban climber
- 1967 Artemis Gounaki, composer, writer and music producer
- 1970 Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian pianist
- 1975 John Cooper, American christian rock musician (Skillet), born in Memphis, Tennessee
Weddings in Music
Wedding of Interest
1920 Country singer Jimmie Rodgers (22) weds Carrie Williamson
Jimmie Rodgers
Wedding of Interest
1979 Country singer Rosanne Cash (23) weds singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell (28)
Rosanne Cash
Wedding of Interest
2003 Academy Award “Gladiator” actor Russell Crowe (39) weds singer Danielle Spencer (32) at his 560-acre cattle farm in Nana Glen, New South Wales, Australia
Russell Crowe
Deaths in Music
- 1767 Franz Sparry, Austrian composer, dies at 51
- 1768 Michel Mathieu, composer, dies at 78
- 1778 Johann Balthasar Kehl, composer, dies at 52
- 1783 Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer, composer, dies at 71
- 1833 Antoni Henryk Radziwill, Lithuanian/Polish composer, dies at 57
- 1858 Anton Diabelli, Austria publisher and composer, dies at 76
- 1862 Sydney Nelson, composer, dies at 62
- 1877 Errico Petrella, composer, dies at 63
- 1880 Diederich Krug, composer, dies at 58
- 1917 Spyridon Filiskos Samaras, composer, dies at 53
- 1958 Judge Jackson, composer, dies at 75
- 1958 Klimenty Arkad’yevich Korchmaryov, composer, dies at 58
- 1961 Jesus Guridi, composer, dies at 74
- 1961 Yusef Greiss, composer, dies at 61
- 1973 Nick Stuart, bandleader, dies of cancer at 69
- 1978 Ernest Kanitz, composer, dies at 83
- 1981 Kit Lambert, British record producer and manager (The Who) (b. 1935)
- 1987 Maxine Sullivan [Marietta Williams], American jazz vocalist and performer (Going Places), dies following a seizure at 75
- 1988 Cesar Bresgen, Austrian composer/organist, dies at 74
- 1994 Lee Brilleaux, British R&B-singer/guitarist (Dr Feelgood), dies of lymphoma at 41
- 1998 Broery Marantika, Indonesian singer
- 2005 Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer (b. 1922)